Method of making washer face nuts or the like



J 1952 R. L. WILCQX 2,583,677

METHOD OF' MAKING WASHER FACE NUTS OR THE LIKE Filed July 31, 1947 3Sheets-Sheet 1 STATION "5 STATION 4 STATION 5 STATION 1 SMTION "2 R. L.WILCOX Jan. 29, 1952 METHOD OF" MAKING WASHER FACE NUTS OR THE LIKE 5Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 51, 1947 Jan. 29, 1952 w cox 2,583,677

METHOD OF MAKING WASHER FACE NUTS OR THE LIKE- Filed July 31, 1947 5Sheets-Sheet 5 STATION '5 Patented Jam 29, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE METHOD OF MAKING WASHER FACE NUTS OR THE LIKE Richard LesterWilcox, Waterbury, Conn, as-

signor to The Waterbury Farrel Foundry and Machine Company, Waterbury,Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application July 31, 1947, SerialNo. 765,234

'14 Claims. (01. -86) This invention relates to a method of and machinefor making nuts and similar articles, and more'partic'ularly a nothaving a washer -face or an annular raised area upon at least "one ofits surfaces. As shown, the nut blank resulting from the process of thepresent application is a polygonal nut having a washer face upon onesurface and being chamfered on the opposite face or surface. 7

As shown in the drawings, the method comprises a series of stepsconsisting of pressing operations at a plurality of stations in the samemachine to cut off a suitable length of solid bar stock, which lengthbecomes the workpiece, and then forming this workpiece while cold intothe finished blank. The operations are carried out upon a machine havinga plurality of stations at which the several steps of the process areperformed, the workpiece being transferred from one station to another,and the machine serving to perform the several operations upon differentworkpieces or blanks at the same time. I

It is contemplated by the present method to employ bar stock ofrelatively large diameter compared to the width of the finished blank,so as to reduce the amount of lateral flow of the metal which isrequired duringthe processing operations. Also, while the finished nutblank is provided with a through opening to receive internal threads,only a relatively small amount of metal is wasted as during theprocessing operations the nut is heavily indented, leaving only a smallweb of metal to be punched out by the piercing punchin order to perfectthe opening.

MoreoverQthe operation of the present apparatusand the practice of thepresent process results ina finished nut blank having a well-formed andclearly defined washer face upon one surface of the nut which is ofpolygonal shape, the corners of the blank being well filled out andsharply defined and a well formed chamfer being provided upon the faceof the nut opposite that upon which the washer face is formed.

v One object of the present invention is to provide a novel method offorming a nut blank from solid stock having a washer face upon onesurface thereof.-

A further object of the invention is to provide novel method andapparatus for forming polygonal nut blank from solid bar stock,the nuthaving a washer face upon one surface thereof, and being formed by aminimum of operations while the workpiece is cold and requiringcomparatively little lateral flow of the metal.

-- A still further objectofthe invention is to w provide a novel methodof forming the nut blank having a washer face upon one surface thereofin a series of steps performed at successive stations in a singlemachine, such that the operations at certain of the stations will bebegun or partially performed at preceding stations, thus reducing thework required at succeeding stations.

Still another object of the invention is to pro vide a machine forforming nut blanks, the machine having a plurality of stations at whichsuccessive operations are performed on the work while cold, the workbeing transferred successively from one station to another and theoperations being of such a character as to .form the finished blank witha minimum of effort, and the number of operations being relativelysmall.

To these and other ends the invention consists in the novel features andcombinations of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

, Fig. 1 is a sectional view of the working ,portion of a nut former orpress embodying my invention and designed to carry out my improvedprocess;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the tools employed at station #2of the machine;

Fig. 3 is a similar view of the tools employed at station #3;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view o:f the tools employed at station#4;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of the tools employed at station #5of the machine;

Fig. 6 illustrates in side elevational and top plan view the workpieceemployed to make the blank;

Fig. 7 shows similar views of the workpiece after the operationperformed at station #2;

Fig. 8 shows similar views of the workpiece after being subjected to theoperations performed by the tools at station #3; and

Figs. 9 and 10 illustrate similar views of the workpiece after beingsubjected to the operations performed by the tools at stations #4 and#5.

To illustrate my method and one embodiment of the machine for carryingout the method, I have shown a die block I0 held at one end of a headerframe it by wedges l2 and a movable gate (3 designed to be reciprocatedtoward and from the die block in the usual manner and caring an openingthrough which is fed a length of stock l5, so that a portion thereofwillprotrude from the die to be severed by the cut-off knife I6, whichis shown diagrammatically, as this is well known and practiced in theart. After a short length or workpiece N (Fig. 6) is cut from the lengthof stock, this blank is transferred to the second station of the machineby the knife E6 in the usual manner.

At station #2 a die holder I8 is mounted in the die block, the dieholder having an opening there-,

in in which is movably guided a die l9 having a shoulder cooperatingwith an oppositely facing shoulder 2| of the die holder I3 to limitmovement of the die in one direction. The die.

I9 is urged forwardly by a relatively strong compression spring 22, sothat the shoulder 20 will normally stand against the shoulder 2| and theface of the die be flush with the forward face of the die holder. Alsomovably mounted in the die holder is a knock-out pin 23 disposed withinan openingin the die insert |9 and designed to a substantially fill thisopening. The knock-out pin is actuated by a knock-out rod 24 which maybe advanced by suitable mechanism (not shown) against a filler plug 25,which in turn engages the knock-out pin 23. It will be noted that theend of the pin 23 is slightly tapered, as shown at 26, so that, as willbe hereinafter explained, it will indentor cup the rear face of theworkpiece.

' The gate at this station is provided with a punch 21 within which ismounted a die holder the punch and die l9 are moving rearwardly togetheragainst the tension of the die spring.

As the blank emerges from station #2, it is shaped in the form shown at36 in Fig. 7, the rear portion being substantially cylindrical in shapeand having a recess or cup 31 formed in the rear face, leaving arelatively thin peripheral edge aroundthe cupped area, which enables themetal to flow outwardly in the next step of the process into the roundedcorners at the rear face of the workpiece;v The forward portion of theblank is 28 carrying a di 29, the latter being provided with an opening-30 which cooperates with the opening in the die insert l9 to form theworkpiece at this station. It may here be noted that the lower portionof the die opening 30 is tapered is provided with flattened areas whichextend above this taper, which flattened areas form fiat spots upon theworkpiece preparatory to forming the polygonal faces.

. The die 29 is also provided with a through opening in which is mounteda pin 33 urged forwardly by the spring 34, and the forward movementbeing limited by contact of the shoulder 35 with the rear end of the dieholder 28.

The gate of the machine is shown in its forward or advanced position inFig. 1. When withdrawn from this position, the pin 33 will project fromthe gate, and a workpiece IT cut from the length of stock will beadvanced by the knife I6 to a point in registration with the opening inthe vdie insert I95 The gate will then be advanced, and the end of thepin 33 will engage the work piece and force it out of the cutter It intothe opening in the die insert, permitting the knife to withdraw. As thegate is advanced, the pin 33 will be retracted relatively to the die .29after the workpiece has been seated in the opening in the die insert wand the outer face of the die 29 will come into contact with the outerface of the die insert l9, thus enclosing the work within thecomplemental openings of the dies, at which time the pin 33 will closethe rear end of the opening in the die 29. Upon a still further advanceof the gate, the punch and die I9 will move together, the latter movingagainst the tension of the spring 22 until the metal'of the workpiecehas been caused to flow and completely fill the cavity formed by thecomplementa1 openinwardly to a slight extent, as shown at 3|, and

tapered, as shown at 38 and 39, and provided with flat spots 40 whichare partly upon the tapered portion and partly upon the cylindricalportion.

This workpiece 36 will then be carried to station 3 by any suitabletransfer mechanism (not shown).

At this station, a fixed die 4| is mounted in a die holder 42, the diebeing provided with an opening within which moves a knock-out pin 43,this pin being adapted to be retracted by .the spring 43*. Within thedie 4| is a die insert 44 through which the pin 43 also extends, thisinsert being provided with a flared or tapered forward surface 45 at aslight angle to the axis of the die, so as to provide an annulartapering surface upon the workpiece at this point, this surface taperingtoward the edge of the blank so that it will be slightly thicker at itcentral portion which is engaged by the pin 43. It may be noted that thedie insert 44 is slightly smaller in diameter than the opening 41*provided in the die 4| so as to leave a small flat area 46 upon theblank in the die opening, particularly at the corners between the flatsides of the latter. It will be understood; that this dieope'ning is ofgenerally polygonal shape with somewhat rounded corners, so as to effectthe preliminary shaping of the blank into this form.

At this station, a punch 41 is secured to the gate in a punch holder 48,and movably associated with the punch is a pin 49 urged outwardly by thespring 55. The punch is provided in its forward face with a complementalopening, this opening comprising angular or frusto-conical portion 5|and 52, which give the front face of ings of the two dies between thepins 23 and 33.

the workpiece a generally dome-shaped configuration, the lateral wall ofthe dome portion being angular, however, rather than rounded. Theopening in the punch also is provided with fiat tened faces havingsomewhat rounded or unfin ished corners between them to cooperate withthe opening in the die 4| to form the blank. The end of the pin 49 issubstantially flat, so that the extreme forward face of the nut belowthe domed or angled portions 5| and 52 will be substantially flat.

The workpiece, after it has been acted upon by the tools at station#3,is shown at 54 in Fig. 8 of the drawings. It' will be apparent that,when the workpiece leavesstation' #3, it will be formed with generallyflattened sides 55 having unfinished or rounded corners 5G. The rearface of the workpiece will be provided with an outwardly inclined orangular surface 51, this surface being of generally annular shape andleaving fiatspots 58 adjacent the rounded'c'orners, which flat spots area vital factor in completely filling out the corners of the blank in thesubsequent operations. As will be apparent from: the. succeeding description, the outwardly inclined angular surfacepST becomes the washer facein the finished nut. The lower portion of -the nut is provided with twosubstantiallyangular surfaces 59 and 60, these surfaces being formed bythe portions 5| and,52

sizable-r7 time opening in thepunch. It will be noted that the surfaces59 and 60 make a much sharper. Y

angle with the general plane of the front and rear surfaces of the blankthan-does the inclined surface 51.

-' The blank 54 is then transferred to station #4. onthe machine wherethe formation of the work: piece will be completed except for thepiercing operation. At this station, a floating die it is movablymounted'in a die holder 62, the die being urged outwardly by a strongspring 63.

Within an opening in the die 6| are mounted die inserts 54 and 65, theformer being provided with a round opening within which operates thepunch 56.

The die insert 65 is provided with a polygonal opening 61 having sharplydefined corners to properly form the finished nut. The punch GB- isprovided with a reduced end 58 to indent the outer surface of theworkpiece, and, as will be seen,

the opening in the die insert 54 is slightly smaller than that intheinsert 65, the result being to form a raised area or washer face on theworkpiece at this station, this raised area being'of annular form andbeing spaced inwardly tofa end 12 to form a relatively deep recess inthe for)- ward face of the workpiece. Itwill be noted that the punch 69is slightly smaller than the opening 61 in the die insert 55, so as toleave a small area of the workpiece which is not contacted by the faceof the punch, thus forming a chamfered edge onthe front faced the blank:The reduced ends 68 and 72 of the punches BB and 69 are so shaped as tocountersink. the indentations made in the faces of the blank. Thisprevents any chip or burr being thrown out beyond either face of the nutwhen the thread is tapped.

When the: blank has. been carried to a position.

inalignment with the tools at station #4 b uie usual transfer mechanism,the gate advances; and thepunch 89 pushes the blank out of the transfermechanism into the opening 61 of the die insert 65. Continued advance ofthe punch causesjthe blank to becompressed between the punches Si and69, and the metal of the blank will be caused to flow against thepolygonal sides of thefdle opening and to fill the sharp corners betweenthese-sides. Also, the die M will be forced rear wardly slightly againstthe spring 63, so that the rear end of the workpiece will be causedtotake up against; the end of the fixed punch 66, thus forming anindentation in the rear face of the blank and, at the sametime, formingthe annular raised washer face around this recess against'thje end ofthe punch and within'the openingofthe die insert-64. The metal of theworkpiece about the washer face flows outwardly into the comers of thepolygonal die insert 65 forwardly o-ffthe face of the insert 64. V l I l1 When the gate is withdrawn, the blank will be station #5. At thistime, the blank is in theform shown in Fig. 9 of the drawings, at whichitwill lac-seen that it is provided with fiat faces "hav ing: sharply"defined corners 75 between them. Thefo'rwardface of the blank will bechamfefred, as shown at 15, andwill be provided with arela tively deeprecess'or indentation 71. The 're'ar face of the blank will be providedwith a central indentation 18, leaving a web of metal 18 between thisandtho indontationl-l, about the indenta- 't-ion Ila raised annular area80 providing a wash er face will have been formed,leavinga-forwardlyspaced flattened'area 8| adjacent the corners of thewrench faces and lying without the an nular area 80. At station #5, thegate is provided with apierolug-punch 82 whichcooperates with a retainerdie 53 and an anvil die 84, these two dies being seated upon a fixedbushing 85. As will'be apparent from Fig. 5 of the drawings, the anvildie 84 is slightly recessed, as shown at 86, the recess being of thesame size as to diameter and depth as the dimensions of thewasher face80 formed upon the blank, so that all portions of the rear surface ofthe blank will rest upon the face of the anvil die during the piercingoperation. l Moreover, it will be noted that the retainer-die 83surrounds only the rear portion of the blank-to prevent this portionfrom expanding during the piercing operation. By this arrangement, theretainer die 83 may be made solid instead of sec tional, and, whil theblank will be efiectively prevented from swelling or enlarging, theblank may be readily withdrawn from the die upon re turn of the punchand stripped by the usual stripper 81, 1 The blank, after it has beenoperated upon by the tools at station #5, is shown at 88 in Fig. 10 ofthe drawings where, as will be apparent, it is provided with a smoothclean opening 89for receiving a suitable thread to complete themanufacture of the nut.

While I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention,it will b understood that it is not to be limited to all of the as- 1adjacent the other end, and then applying pres sure to the workpiece toforce outwardly the metal at the cupped face to form at said 'face anoutwardly inclined area surrounding a central flat area while formingflattened areas on the side walls of the workpiece, and flat spots onthe vl'a'cc exteriorly of said inclined area.

2. The method of making a nut blank, which comprises cutting a workpiecefrom a length of solid stock, forming a cup in the face of the work,piece at one end While reducing its cross sectional size adjacent theother end, then applying pres sure to the workpiece to form at saidcupped'face a central flat area and a surrounding area sloping outwardlytoward the other end of the blank, and then forming said sloping areainto a raisedsu-bs stantially flat annular surface by pressure appliedto opposite faces of the blank. 3. The method of making a nut blank,which ejected by, the punch and will be carried to y comprises cuttin aworkpiece from a length of solid stock, cupping the face of theworkpiece at oneend while reduoingits cross sectional size ad- J'acentthe other end, then applying pressure to the workpiece to flow the metaladjacent the cupped face to form at said face an. outwardly inclinedarea surrounding a central flat area and form flattened areas on theside walls of the workpiece, and then by pressure on opposite faces ofthe blank while confining the latter laterally forming said inclinedarea into a raised substantially flat annular surface and indenting theblank at'its opposite faces. i ,4, The method of making a nut blank,which comprises cutting a workpiece, from a length of solid stock,cupping the face of the workpiece at one end while reducing itscrosssectional siz adjacent the other end, then applying pressure to theworkpiece to flow the metal adjacent the cupped face to form at saidfacean outwardly inclined area surrounding a central fiat area with fiatspots outwardly of said inclined area, and simultaneously forming twosubstantiallyann-ular tapering areas on the sides of the workpieceadjacent the reduced end. v V

5. The method of making a nut blank, which comprises cutting aworkpiecefrom a lengthof solid stock, cupping the face of the workpiece at oneend while reducing its cross sectional size adjacent-the other end, thenapplying pressure to the workpiece to flow the metal adjacent the cuppedface toform at saidrface an outwardly inclinedarea surrounding a centralflat area, and simultaneously forming two substantiallyannular taperingareas on the sides of the workpiece adjacent th reduced end, the angleof said inclined area with the adjacent face of the blank being lessthan that of either of said tapering areas with the face of; the blankat the reduced end.

, 6. Themethod of making a nut blank, which comprises cutting aWorkpiece from a length'of solid stock, cuppingthe face of the workpieceat one end while reducing its cross sectional size adjacent the otherend, then applying pressure to the workpiece to flow the metal adjacentthe cupped face to form at said face an outwardly inclined areasurrounding, acentral fiat area, and then indenting both faces of theblank, while confining it laterally in a die, to cause the metal to flowaxially of the blank and increase the thickness thereof adjacent theouter portion to form substantially straight-sided walls thereon andform. saidinclined washer. face. i 7. The method of making a nut blank,which comprises cutting a workpiece from a length of solid stock,cupping the face of the workpiece at one end while reducing its crosssectional size a de jacent the other end, then applying pressure to theworkpiece to, flowfthe metal adjacent the cupped face to form at saidface an outwardly in clined area surrounding a central flat area, andthen indenting both faces of'the blank, while'confining it laterally ina die, to cause the metal to flow axially of the blank and increase thethickness thereof adjacent the outer portion to form substantiallystraight-sided. Walls thereon and form said inclined area into a raisedannular washer 'facegthe indentation at the end of the blank oppositethat of the washer face beingof substantially greater depth than that atthe washer face and then piercing out the metal be-' tween saidindentations to form an opening in area into a raised annular the blank,

8. The method of making a nut blank, which comprises cutting a workpiecefrom a lengthof solid stock, forming a cup in the face of the workpieceat one .end while reducing its cross sectional size adjacent the otherend, then ap plying pressure to the workpiece to flow the metal adjacentthe cupped face to form at said face an outer, area inclinedtoward theopposite face of the blank, said area surrounding a central fiat area,and then applying pressure to theblank to indent the flattened area andforce axially the me a ai i li d ar 9 term a c t al dentation and asurrounding;substantially an:-

nular fiat washer face. I

9. The method of making a nut blank, which comprises cutting a workpiecefrom a lengthof solid stock, cupping the face of the workpiece at oneend Whilereducing its cross sectional size. adjacent the other end, thenapplying pressure to the workpiece to-fiow' the metal adjacent thecupped face to form at said face an outer area inclined toward theopposite face of the blank, said area surrounding a central flat areawith fiat spots exteriorly of said inclined area and flattened areas onthe side walls of the workpiece. and then upsetting the metal at saidface to form a central indentation and a surrounding substantially flatWasher face, the. latter projecting from the metal at the edge of theface of the blank.

' Y 10. The method of making a polygonal nut blankwhich comprisescutting a workpiece from alength of solid stock, cupping th face of theworkpiece at one 'end to form a relatively thin peripheral edge whilevreducing its cross sectional size adjacent the other end, then applyingpressure to the workpiece to flow the metal adjacent the cuppedfacetoform at said face an outwardly sloping area surrounding a central flatarea with fiat spots beyond said sloping area and flattened areas on theside walls of the workpiece, and then flowing the metal of the workpiecetoform on the latter face a substantially flat annular area having anindentationtherein, said annular area projecting from the metal aroundsaid area at the edge of the-blank and perfecting the flat lateral faceson the sidewalls.

11. The method of fmaking a polygonal nut blank, which comprises cuttinga workpiece from a length of solid stock, cupping the face of theworkpiece at-one end to form arelatively thin peripheral edge whilereducing its cross sectional size adjacent the other end, thenapplying'pressure to the workpiece to flow the metal adjacent the cuppedface to form at said face an annular outwardly sloping area surroundinga central fiat area with flat spots-beyond said sloping area andflattened areas on the side walls of the workpiece, then flowing themetal of the workpiece to blank, which comprises cutting a workpiecefrom a, length of solid stock, cupping the face of the workpiece atoneend to form a relatively thin peripheral edge while reducing its crosssectional size adjacent the other end, then applying pressure to theworkpiece to flow the metal adjacent the cupped face to form at saidface an annular outwardly sloping area surrounding a central flat areawith fiat spots beyond said sloping area and flattened areas on the sideWalls of the workpiece, then flowing the metal of the workpiece to formon the latter face a substantially flat annular area having anindentation therein, said annular areaprojecting from the metal aroundsaid area at the edge of the blank and perfecting the-flatlateral faceson the side walls, forming a relativelydeep indentation at the otherface of the blank, and causing the metal to flow axially to lncrease thethickness of the blank around said indentation, while forming achamfered surface at said latter face.

13. The method of making a polygonal nut blank, which comprises cuttinga workpiece from a length of solid stock, cupping the face of theworkpiece at one end to form a relatively thin peripheral edge whilereducing its cross sectional size adjacent the other end, then applyingpressure to the workpiece to flow the metal adjacent the cupped face toform at said face an annular outwardly sloping area surrounding acentral fiat area with flat spots beyond said sloping area and flattenedareas on the side walls of the workpiece, then flowing the metal of theworkpiece to form on the latter face a substantially flat annular areahaving an indentation therein, said annular area projecting from themetal around said area at the edge of the blank and perfecting the flatlateral faces on the side walls, forming a relatively deep indentationat the other face of the blank, causing the metal to flow axially toincrease the thickness of the 10 blank around said indentation, whileforming a chamfered surface at said latter face, and then piercing ahole through the blank between said indentations.

14. The method of forming nut blanks as set forth in claim 3, whereinthe indentations at the opposite faces of the blank are countersunk.

RICHARD LESTER WILCOX.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,674,310 Topping June 19, 19281,832,167 Wilcox Nov. 17, 1931 1,977,162 Wilcox Oct. 16, 1934 1,993,137Gibney Mar. 5, 1935 2,013,460 Erdman Sept. 3. 1935 2,057,527 JohnsonOct. 13, 1936 2,287,214 Wilcox June 23, 1942

